Sachin Tendulkar's hundred international hundreds may never be bettered like Don Bradman's Test average

Sachin Tendulkar reached his 100th international hundred on March 16, 2012. Abhishek Mukherjee looks back at how significant this number is, and why the number will, in all likelihood, will remain elusive for generations of cricketers to come.

Sachin Tendulkar reached his 100th international hundred on March 16, 2012. Abhishek Mukherjee looks back at how significant this number is, and why the number will, in all likelihood, will remain elusive for generations of cricketers to come.

History was rewritten as Sachin Tendulkar clipped Shakib Al Hasan to square-leg and ran through for a single. He became the first man to register a hundred international hundreds. A new page was turned over in the annals of the sport as yet another landmark — one that may never be emulated in future — was achieved.

But exactly how great is Tendulkar’s record when compared to the other records in the history of the sport? Let us dig deep into the magnitude of Tendulkar’s achievement.

How long would it take some of the other batsmen to reach that incredible mark? Let us have a look at the hypothesis:

Table 1

All cricketers

Player

First match

Last match

Date of birth

Career Span (days)

Runs

100s

Days per 100

To score 100 100s

Needed to play till (date)

Needed to play till (age)

Sachin Tendulkar

15/11/89

5/3/13

24/4/73

8,511

34,182

100

85

Ricky Ponting

15/2/95

3/12/12

19/12/74

6,501

27,483

71

92

11/3/2020

45

Jacques Kallis

14/12/95

17/2/13

16/10/75

6,275

25,292

61

103

11/2/2024

48

Brian Lara

9/11/90

21/4/07

2/5/69

6,007

22,358

53

113

19/11/2021

53

Rahul Dravid

3/4/96

28/1/12

11/1/73

5,778

24,208

48

120

18/3/2029

56

Mahela Jayawardene

8/2/97

23/1/13

27/5/77

5,828

22,991

47

124

21/1/2031

54

Kumar Sangakkara

5/7/00

12/3/13

27/10/77

4,633

22,287

46

101

31/1/2028

50

Sanath Jayasuriya

26/12/89

28/6/11

30/6/69

7,854

21,032

42

187

8/3/2041

72

Matthew Hayden

19/5/93

7/1/09

29/10/71

5,712

15,066

40

143

23/6/2032

61

Mohammad Yousuf

26/2/98

8/11/10

27/8/74

4,638

17,300

39

119

18/9/2030

56

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

17/3/94

14/3/13

16/8/74

6,937

19,843

38

183

9/3/2044

70

Sourav Ganguly

11/1/92

6/11/08

8/7/72

6,144

18,575

38

162

17/4/2036

64

Virender Sehwag

1/4/99

5/3/13

20/8/78

5,087

17,253

38

134

24/11/2035

57

Mark Waugh

11/12/88

22/10/02

2/6/65

5,063

16,529

38

133

3/6/2025

60

Graeme Smith

8/3/02

10/3/13

1/2/81

4,020

16,662

36

112

2/10/2032

52

As is evident, Tendulkar is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the batsmen on the list. Not only has he started playing at an age younger than most have and has continued playing up to an age older than most have, he has also scored a hundred every 85 days. The number is phenomenal. Ricky Ponting follows him scoring hundred every 92 days, the duration of his career is nowhere close to what Tendulkar has.

To emulate Tendulkar’s feat, Ponting should have gone on to play till the age of 45, and Jacques Kallis needs to play on till the age of 48. None of the others are below the 50-mark, and some others need to play above the age of 60, and in the case of a few others, more than 70.

Table 2

Current cricketers

Player

First match

Last match

Date of birth

Career Span (days)

Runs

100s

Days per 100

To score 100 100s

Needed to play till (date)

Need to play till (age)

Sachin Tendulkar

15/11/89

5/3/13

24/4/73

8,511

34,182

100

85

Jacques Kallis

14/12/95

17/2/13

16/10/75

6,275

25,292

61

103

11/2/2024

48

Mahela Jayawardene

8/2/97

23/1/13

27/5/77

5,828

22,991

47

124

21/1/2031

54

Kumar Sangakkara

5/7/00

12/3/13

27/10/77

4,633

22,287

46

101

31/1/2028

50

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

17/3/94

14/3/13

16/8/74

6,937

19,843

38

183

9/3/2044

70

Virender Sehwag

1/4/99

5/3/13

20/8/78

5,087

17,253

38

134

24/11/2035

57

Graeme Smith

8/3/02

10/3/13

1/2/81

4,020

16,662

36

112

2/10/2032

52

Tillakaratne Dilshan

18/11/99

12/3/13

14/10/76

4,863

13,561

31

157

30/10/2042

66

Kevin Pietersen

4/11/04

10/3/13

27/6/80

3,048

13,044

31

98

6/10/2031

51

Michael Clarke

19/1/03

5/3/13

2/4/81

3,698

15,120

30

123

18/10/2036

56

Hashim Amla

28/11/04

10/3/13

31/3/83

3,024

9,343

29

104

16/6/2033

50

Alastair Cook

1/3/06

10/3/13

25/12/84

2,566

9,777

29

88

22/5/2030

45

AB de Villiers

17/12/04

10/3/13

17/2/84

3,005

12,426

29

104

1/5/2033

49

Younis Khan

13/2/00

10/3/13

29/11/77

4,774

14,119

27

177

11/7/2048

71

Ian Bell

19/8/04

10/3/13

11/4/82

3,125

10,084

20

156

31/5/2047

65

Gautam Gambhir

11/4/03

27/1/13

14/10/81

3,579

10,191

20

179

8/4/2052

70

Ramnaresh Sarwan

18/5/00

26/2/13

23/6/82

4,667

11,942

20

233

7/4/2064

82

Given that a lot more matches are played these days, and given the fact that the general batting average and rate of scoring hundreds has gone up significantly, the targets should have been achievable for some of the current crop.

However, if we look at the numbers, it is evident other than Kallis, the only others who have a chance to reach the mark are AB de Villiers and Alastair Cook. Cook is the best bet, but even he has to play on till the age of 45, assuming Tendulkar does not score any more hundreds. Like the previous table, there are players who need to play past an age of 50, 60, 70, and even 80 to emulate Tendulkar.

All in all, it can be safely concluded that Tendulkar’s record is as safe as Muttiah Muralitharan’s tally of 1,347 international wickets, or Mark Boucher’s record of 1,000 international dismissals – or even the grandest of all world records – Don Bradman’s career average of 99.94.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is a cricket historian and Senior Cricket Writer at CricketCountry. He generally looks upon life as a journey involving two components – cricket and literature – though not as disjoint elements. A passionate follower of the history of the sport with an insatiable appetite for trivia and anecdotes, he has also a steady love affair with the incredible assortment of numbers that cricket has to offer. He also thinks he can bowl decent leg-breaks in street cricket, and blogs at http://ovshake.blogspot.in. He can be followed on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ovshake and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ovshake42.)

First Published on March 16, 2013 1:18 PM ISTLast updated on March 16, 2013 1:18 PM IST